MLB: Patience at the plate pays off for Brown, Howard

DUNEDIN, Fla. — Much was made of it when the Phillies this offseason acquired two of the most infamously impatient hitters in baseball in Michael Young and Delmon Young.

It is true: Few everyday players in baseball last season made their plate appearances last as shortly as Michael (3.44 pitches per PA) and Delmon (3.41).

Oftentimes the trait of a quality veteran lineup is the ability to work pitchers, extend pitch counts and get to bullpens earlier. Perhaps the Phillies don’t have the pure power they possessed during their Golden Era of hitting from 2007-10, but wearing down pitchers can help the cause.

In the early days of spring training, both Ryan Howard and Domonic Brown have been impressing at the plate. One thing the two have been doing this spring is exercising a great deal of patience. This isn’t something new for them, either.

Howard undoubtedly struggled when he returned from his Achilles’ tendon surgery last season. He didn’t hit for average (.219), struck out a ton and didn’t walk much (25 in 292 PAs).

That last number perhaps speaks to his rustiness the most, because one thing he did do was see a lot of pitches — 4.21 per PA. By comparison, Chase Utley — a sabermetric darling for his ability to work deep counts — averaged 3.95 pitches per PA last season. If anything, Howard was exercising patience until he had two strikes. Those tend to be the actions of a player not trusting himself enough, and since Howard rushed back from a long absence with little game preparation and an atrophied leg ... well, no wonder.

This spring, Howard has been seeing pitches by volume of plate appearances and because he’s working counts. He has started all eight games (and will be in there again Sunday) and already has four hits off left-handed pitchers, which is only 13 fewer than he had in half a season in 2012. Three of them came on two-strike counts.

After going 1-for-3 with a two-run homer in the first inning of Saturday’s 11-6 loss to the Blue Jays, Howard is hitting .429 with five strikeouts and two walks in 23 plate appearances.

“We have a plan,” Charlie Manuel said of Howard, “to play him.”

That plan seems to be working. And Utley believes Howard and the entire team are showing maturity and poise at the plate.

“I think it’s important to see some pitches, especially early in spring training,” said Utley, who had Saturday off but will be back in the lineup for today’s split-squad games against Toronto (home) and Baltimore (away). “You try to get comfortable up there. There doesn’t seem to be much of a panic as far as trying to put the ball in play. Guys seem to have a plan up there, and that’s to see some pitches.

“Obviously there are times where you want to swing the bat early, but it’s always a good feeling coming out of spring training knowing you saw a lot of pitches.”

As for Brown — whose impressive spring play could take Delmon Young out of the picture, anyway — he has been a disappointment in terms of his early-career production in the majors, but you can’t say he’s been impatient. His 3.89 pitches per PA last season was good. This spring he has shortened his swing with a more relaxed grip on the bat, and the results have been striking. After going 1-for-3 Saturday, he’s hitting .375 with a team-high six walks and .565 on-base percentage.

It seems to be more than an anomaly. Jimmy Rollins had been working deep counts in Grapefruit League games. During his cameo in the majors last season, Darin Ruf averaged a whopping 4.51 pitches seen. Even John Mayberry Jr. (4.04) works counts.

Charlie Manuel said his hitters have been more relaxed this spring training, and he hinted that the volume of hitting coaches and instructors in camp and their reputations might have something to do with it. In addition to having two hitting coaches — veteran Steve Henderson and Wally Joyner (a .289 hitter with 2,060 career hits) — there are a couple of Hall of Fame hitters in third-base coach Ryne Sandberg and special instructor Mike Schmidt there for the chatting.

“I think it comes from the fact that we’re talking more,” Manuel said. “We have two hitting coaches, myself, Ryne, Schmitty’s here, and we’re always talking about hitting, working the count, getting good balls to hit, look for balls that you can jump on the first pitch — fastballs middle-in.”

Recent history has seen both the Yankees and Red Sox have success with veteran lineups that worked counts and forced starting pitchers to leave games earlier than they wanted. Utley believes a little of that could go a long way for the Phillies.

“A good at-bat doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to get a hit,” he said. “You can work the pitcher, make him throw some pitches. It makes him work harder and also gives our guys a chance to see how he’s attacking guys.”

It also could allow someone like Michael Young to fit in well with his style of hitting. In Texas he made a career out of his early-count activity. He is a .365 lifetime hitter when putting either the first or second pitch of an at-bat in play, with 881 of his 2,230 career hits coming in those situations.

Last season, Young wasn’t as productive in those situations (particularly with one-strike count), and when he’s a .277 hitter (his average in 2012) instead of a .301 hitter (his career average), that’s a problem.

However, if the rest of the lineup continues to practice the good habits it has this spring, the lack of plate discipline by the Youngs could be less of an issue than it is being made out to be.

* * *The Phillies weren’t in the mood to be patient at the plate Saturday, but the fact that the Blue Jays had knuckleballer R.A. Dickey on the hill and a steady 20 mph breeze blowing straight out at their ballpark made it the type of day to go hacking. Howard, Carlos Ruiz and Erik Kratz rode the wind for homers.

Cliff Lee made the start and gave up three runs in three innings. One of those runs came on a wind-carried homer by Emilio Bonifacio, who has seven long balls in 1,642 big-league at-bats — which tells you a little about the conditions.

NOTESRight-hander Tyler Cloyd was rocked for six runs in his two innings of work, and any hope he had to push out Jon Lannan for the fifth spot in the rotation is slipping away fast. ... Chad Durbin gets a special mention for being the only Phillies pitcher who didn’t give up a run Saturday. He worked a 1-2-3 eighth, striking out two. ... Mike Stutes, working his way back from shoulder surgery last year, looked better in his second spring outing than in his debut, although he did give up two hits and a run. ... Kyle Kendrick will start for the Phils against the Orioles in Sarasota Sunday, while Aaron Cook makes the start in the other split-squad game against Toronto.